Copyright & associated rights transactions and management

Copyright recognises the skill and labour and the ‘creative stamp’ expended by an author in creating a work. Copyright is, put simply, a right to copy a work (the owner may also restrict acts other than copying). The law is set out mainly in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988), which took effect from 1 August 1989. Transitional provisions apply to pre-existing works.

In practice, one work tends to give rise to multiple copyrights. When considering copyright works, rights distinct from copyright, eg design rights, should also be considered as they may also apply to creative works. For an introduction to the law of copyright, see Practice Note: Introduction to copyright and associated rights.

Tracking developments in copyright law and practice

Copyright law has the sizeable task of responding to changes brought about by businesses and consumers operating in a digital age. As well as more organic legal developments, new technologies, the internet and post-IP completion day considerations provide an inexhaustible supply of challenges for those who do business in the UK and the rest of the world. To keep up with

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